


half a world away

by helsinkibaby



Category: NCIS
Genre: Angst, F/M, Het, Romance, Vague spoilers for the season opener
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-07-14 21:29:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16048922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: Half a world away from each other, they have a ritual.





	half a world away

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a post on the TorresandBishop tumblr that posited, given the trailer, that it looked like Nick and Ellie were on the opposite side of the world form each other. My brain took that and ran with it - posting it here before the inevitable Jossing on Tuesday.

When his phone vibrates against his hip late at night, Nick doesn’t pull it from his pocket, doesn’t even look at it before he’s heading outside. The chill air of the Afghan night hits him, makes him shiver but a rush of warmth unfurls itself in his chest when he looks down at the display and sees Ellie’s face. 

This, right here, is his favourite part of the day. A few stolen moments where he doesn’t have to think about the search for Vance and how frustratingly badly it’s going. Where he can forget about the smell of sand and sweat and the heat of the sun and concentrate instead on her voice, close his eyes and imagine he’s sitting beside her on her couch, her head on his shoulder and her hand in his. 

“Hey,” he says, not bothering with any other statements, not bothering to keep the tiredness out of his voice. She’d seen him a couple of hours earlier on an MTAC screen, first thing in the morning for her, late in the evening for him, so she knows how things are here. “What did you tell them this time?”

Her excuses for sneaking out to call him are a source of endless amusement for him, the rest of the team not knowing about their relationship. Well, not officially that is. He’d bet good money that everyone knows. It’s easier for him - most people have already hit the hay by now and those that haven’t don’t begrudge him a chance to talk to his girl back home, even if they don’t know who that girl is. Today, however, it’s a simple one. “Coffee break,” she says and he chuckles. 

“Boring.” 

“Honest.” She counters his quip in a tone that’s serious and sounds almost as tired as he feels. He frowns, doesn’t like the sound of that, wishes he were beside her so that he could see her face, read her with just a look. “We had a late one last night... and an early one this morning.” 

“That sucks.” He’s not even going to try playing “who has it worse” with her, not when they’ve both got it pretty bad. “How much sleep did you get?” 

He hears a snicker so soft he almost misses it. “Not much.” Then, even softer, “I’m not sleeping so well lately.” 

It’s the most she’s ever admitted and he’s fairly sure she wouldn’t be doing that if she weren’t bone tired. Ellie doesn’t like to admit weakness, both on general principles and because she doesn’t want him to worry about her. And he is worried about her, he’ll admit to that, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t smiling a little. “Yeah?” He can’t help teasing her, just a little. It’s what he does. It’s always been what he does. “Any reason for that?” 

He can hear her smile on the other end of the line when she says, “You know why.”

His smile grows wider. “Nah, I’m pretty sure you’re the brains of this relationship, B, you’re gonna have to draw me a picture here.” 

He expects her to banter back. Either that or huff down the phone and he’ll picture her rolling her eyes. Instead what he hears, low like she’s afraid of being overheard, is, “I can’t sleep without you.” 

That feeling he got when he saw her face on his phone screen? It’s back, swelling a hundredfold, leaving him speechless. But only for a moment. Because then he replies, in much the same tone, “The feeling’s mutual.” 

There’s a moment of silence then, one that’s broken by her sigh. “I need to get back... Directorship has not improved Gibbs’s patience.” He knows from her voice that she’s not finished yet, so he waits. “Nick... just stay safe, okay?” 

“Trust me, baby, that’s a done deal.” He closes his eyes, pictures her face one more time. “You do the same, ok?”

“I promise. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” 

Nick signs, reluctant to hang up the phone, knowing he has to. “Tomorrow,” he echoes. “Goodnight, Ellie.”

“Goodnight, Nick.” 

She disconnects the call first - she always does - and the desert air seems a little less chilled as Nick makes his way back to his bunk and lies down, tries to sleep. But with his mind and his heart half a world away, it takes him a long time to drift off.


End file.
